Page 64 of Hollywood Undercover
Chapter 27
SEBASTIAN wokeup in the middle of the night, and saw the tell-tale orange flicker through the window of his bedroom. He sat up and looked out thewindow.
Max’s house is onfire!
Alexandra!
He immediately envisioned Max and Alexandra stuck in a burning house, unable to get out. The panic hit him like abrick.
I have to get themout.
He raced out of his room, down the stairs and out the front door to get over to his neighbor’s house. Thankfully, their front door was unlocked. He hurried inside and got to Max first, almost lifting him out of the hospital bed. He hustled to the foot of the stairs with Max at his side, an arm looped across hisshoulder.
“Alex!” he shouted up the stairwell. Sebastian had to get Max out first, but refused to leave her behind. “Alex, if you can hear me, get down on the floor and crawl! I’ll come back foryou!”
“Sebastian, go get mydaughter!”
Max tried to shout at him with what strength he had left. Sebastian dragged him toward the front door. Max coughed and sputtered. The smoke was too thick for him in his weakened state. Sebastian needed to pull him outside, away from the overpowering smoke. He looked at Max, struggling to catch his breath, and each time his chest rose to suck in some air, wracking coughs kicked inin.
“My oxygen,” Max forced out, between a fit ofwheezing.
“I’ll get it. I’ll get Alexandra. Please, just stay righthere!”
Sebastian set him down on the pavement at the other side of the street. It didn’t look good. With one or more oxygen tanks stored in the burning house, the place could blow anytime. He couldn’t tell where the fire had started or how much of the house was engulfed. He had no idea how much time he had before the fire would reach the dining room, but he had to get both the oxygen tank and Alex out. The smoke had already begun to creep across the ceiling and billow outside. As he ran back through the open front door, a crushing uncertainty about which to do first overcamehim.
What if the fire started in herroom?
Panic clutched hischest.
“Alex!” he shouted, and raked shaking fingers through hishair.
He ignored the pain in his injured leg, taking the stairs two at a time. His injury and his anxiety made the trek harder than normal. The second floor was where the fire was hottest and most treacherous. He rushed across the landing and jogged up to the third floor forAlexandra.
“Bash!” She burst through the bedroom door, barely visible in the thick clouds ofsmoke.
Sebastian bent forward, ducking his head to get clearer air. Up here, with all the smoke, they could both end up passing out. He needed to get them outfast.
“Get down on the floor, Alex! Get as low as you can and come to me. We don’t have muchtime!”
Alexandra wrapped her robe tighter around her waist and dropped to the floor. She crawled to him and they started down the stairs together, as fast as they couldgo.
“Where’s my dad?” she asked in her panickedstate.
Sebastian didn’t mention her slip-up. He was too busy trying to get them out. “He’s outside. Move, move! We have to get out ofhere!”
At this point, crawling didn’t even matter. They ran down the stairs, with the fire chasing behind them. Sebastian only had one shot of getting thisright.
“Alex, you get outside!” he told her when they made it down to the main floor. “Get to Max. I have to get his oxygen tank, or it can explode. Take him inside my house. My front door is open. When you get in, I need you to call 911 again. Nowgo!”
She ran to the front door, and Sebastian slid across the hardwood floor of the foyer into the dining room, scooping up the oxygen tank. He yanked the hose, but it was stuck. It was entangled in the rails of the bed. The noise of the fire was so familiar, but tonight, he was more terrified than he had ever felt. He wasn’t wearing protective gear, his busted knee kept shooting pain up his leg, and the people he cared about were indanger.
“Come on. Come on!” he shouted, feeling the sweat and soot on his skin as he fought to untangle the hose. The sound of flames was louder. Smoke poured into the room. It was thick and black, and the smell was acrid. He sneezed, blinking back stars. Finally, his fingers felt where it was caught on the railing. He slid the hose across and down the metal bar, and it came free. Just as flames began to run along the ceiling, he made a mad dash out the front door, ducking away from the scorchingheat.
When he got outside with the tank, people from the neighborhood were already gathered around in the middle of the street. Sirens wailed in the distance. Someone beat Alexandra to calling for help. The huge sigh of relief that rushed from his lungs, was filled with a clean burst of freshair.
Alexandra issafe.
Max issafe.
